Ajax

A fine display from Ashley Young at Villa Park gave Martin O'Neill's side the best possible start in their UEFA cup campaign, beating Ajax 2-1.

Villa started at a high tempo, whilst Ajax looked nervous early on. Villa's fast start and early dominance paid off when Ashley Young whipped over a corner for skipper Martin Laursen to head home on eight minutes.

While Villa controlled large parts of the first half, Ajax worked their way back into the game and equalised on 24 minutes when Thomas Vermaelen rose ahead of three Ajax teammates to head in from Urby Emanuelson's corner.

Villa were without John Carew, who is suffering from an illness, and long-term injury casualty Wilfred Bouma. The Midlanders missed the talismanic Norwegian up front, and Gabby Agbonlahor was asked to fill in as the central striker.

Villa's makeshift front three of Young, Milner, and Agbonlahor threatened every time they got on the ball. Milner and Young's pace and delivery caused problems for Ajax all night. Agbonlahor worked hard in an unfamiliar role at the centre of Villa's three-pronged attack before suffering a nasty looking injury with two minutes to go.

The name Ajax is synonymous with great young talent. Names like Gullit, Kanu, Seedorf, Bergkamp, and the great Johan Cruyff have all rolled off Ajax's production line and moved onto superstardom. Ajax's current manager, Marco van Basten, is also a product of the now legendary Ajax youth system.

The most recent wonderkid to play for Ajax is Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. The Dutchman scored 70 goals in 82 games in his first two seasons at the Amsterdam club, but so far this season he has struggled to regain anything like that kind of form, scoring only two goals this season.

Huntelaar's poor form continued at Villa Park tonight. He looked off the pace and very rarely threatened. On this evidence, the endless rumours of him being signed by an English club and bursting onto the premiership scene can finally stop.

Van Basten's men were met with a raucous atmosphere at Villa Park. The Villa faithful have been starved of big European nights such as this for far too long, and they were going to enjoy this one against one of the more glamorous UEFA cup contenders.

The first half came to an end with Villa getting back into the driving seat. Ashley Young and Nicky Shorey threatened down the left, and again it was Young's right-foot cross that led to the goal. Barry latched onto Young's deflected cross and coolly slotted the ball past the sprawling Vermeer on 45 minutes.

It was a nervy last half hour for Villa. Emanuelson threatened Friedel's goal with a powerful left-foot shot, but the home side held firm to give their fans a memorable and welcome return to European football.

O'Neill's side are inexperienced in European football; the Villa youngsters could have been overcome by the emotion of the night. This was a solid performance, work-man-like if you will, and an easier test than their opponents' storied history would suggest.

Aston Villa

(4-1-4-1) B Friedel; L Young, C Cuellar, M Laursen, N Shorey; S Petrov; J Milner, N Reo-Coker (C Gardner, 81), G Barry, A Young; G Agbonlahor.

Subs: B Guzan, S Sidwell, M Harewood, C Davies, Z Knight, M Salifou.

Goals: Laursen (8), Barry (45)

Booked: Cuellar, Gardner

Ajax

(4-3-3) K Vermeer; B Silva (G Van Der Wiel, 78), Oleguer, T Vermaelen, U Emanuelson; Gabri, R Lindgren, J Vertonghen; L Suarez (L Vitor Santiago, 60), K Huntelaar, J Sarpong (D Cvitanich, 56).

Subs: H Vonk, E Sno, V Anita, R Schilder.

Goals: Vermaelen (21)

Referee: T Einwaller (Austria)

An old joke here in the Netherlands all comes down to accusing Germans of stealing all our bicycles during the Second World War. Occasionally, we steal something back from the Germans. One of these things is the football term “Schwalbe.”

Now a Schwalbe is nothing more than taking a dive. The Germans dubbed this move a Schwalbe, or swallow, because of the diving flight pattern swallow species in Germany have.

The dive of the swallows was mimicked by footballers going down to get a penalty.

This etymological and semantic lesson is the intro for a pretty interesting tale, so bear with me. On the subject of taking a dive, the whole world knows and loathes Cristiano Ronaldo for taking dives frequently.

In the Dutch Eredivisie, there’s a similar player. Ajax’s Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez is known to go down fast.

As it happens, the credibility of players that go down often and easily declines rapidly. In fact, Suarez hardly ever gets a foul called in his favour, even if he is actually being fouled. His history regarding dives and faking injuries to get penalties and free-kicks has caught up with him.

Personally, I think the case of Suarez (and other similar cases) is just one more reason to introduce video-images to aid the referee. Referees are often influenced by a players reputation and/or a hostile home-crowd when making a split-second decision that can alter the course of the game.

I’ll elaborate. A few weeks ago, “De Klassieker” was played in Rotterdam. De Klassieker translates as "The Classic", the match between arch-rivals Feyenoord Rotterdam and AFC Ajax Amsterdam. During this match, referee Erik Braamhaar influenced the course of the game quite dramatically, twice.

In both cases, video assistance might have changed the decision the referee made.

In both cases, a player went down in the box. Now the million dollar (or euro) question always remains, is that player taking a dive—or was he really brought down by his opponent in such a way that a penalty is fair?

I’ll show you the pictures.

In the first picture we see Feyenoord's Brazilian defender Andre Bahia getting close and personal with Ajax's Suarez. The two of them are really feeling the love, they're that close together. If they're not feeling the love, they're at least feeling each other (up).

In the second picture we see Feyenoord's veteran striker Michael Mols going down whilst being held back by Ajax's young wing-back Urby Emmanuelson. Mols is obviously not into cuddling and is showing his disdain towards this treatment by screaming. Urby, on the other hand, looks quite shocked Mols isn't into cuddling. Feel the love, brother!

Quite similar cases, wouldn’t you agree? If anything, you’d say that the foul on Mols wasn’t quite as bad as the one on Bahia. Mols’ action even looks a bit theatrical, spreading his arms wide and shouting whilst on the way down. Still, similar cases, were it not for the reputation of Suarez and the attitude of the Feyenoord supporters, the famous band called “Het Legioen” (The Legion).

Referee Erik Braamhaar decided to give a free-kick to Feyenoord in our first case. Suarez was deemed to have taken a dive. According to the referee, there was nothing wrong with the way Andre Bahia defended against the Uruguayan forward. Fair enough. That’s his decision.

Whether I agree or not, I can respect his decision.

Now in the second case, referee Erik Braamhaar decides that Feyenoord has earned a penalty that can put them level at 2-2. Look at the pictures. The first foul was a more severe one compared to the second one. The first foul was rewarded with a free-kick, the second one with a penalty.

A bit inconsistent, if you ask me. It may have something to do with the odd 55,000 Feyenoord fans screaming their lungs out asking for a penalty.

Now I’m okay with the second penalty decision. Technically, Mols was being held back, ergo a foul was made. What I’m not okay with, is the fact that a more severe foul on another player was not rewarded the same way, just because the player being fouled was not playing for the home-side and had the reputation of going down easily.

In itself, the second reason is perfectly understandable. Suarez brought this on himself, even though his behaviour has improved in the last season. But when there’s this much money at stake and when decisions can be this important to a match,

I think it would be a good idea to eliminate the chances of a referee making the wrong decision. Video replays would be the ideal solution.

I’m confident the outcome of the decisions would’ve been fairer when the referee would be able to stop play for a minute or so and check a video replay of the incident. Instead of making a split-second decision and possibly being influenced by a hostile crowd of the reputation of a player, a referee could take his time and examine the situation from various angles.

Cases like the Suarez v. Mols penalty-situations are proof that referees are prone to make mistakes when it’s a high-stakes game. Isn’t it time we eliminated some of these mistakes, when they are potentially game-deciding?

Instead of giving Ajax a penalty and a possible 3-1 lead, which would probably have resulted in a win for the Amsterdam side, Feyenoord was given a way back into the match.

That’s quite a difference, one point or three points. If you keep in mind that the title race was decided by a few points last year, this loss of points could prove to be costly for either team.

Schwalbe or not, in a game like this I wouldn’t let the referee decide instantly.

Crisis in Munich, as FC Bayern lose for the second time in a row. After the embarrassing home defeat against Werder Bremen, the German Rekordmeister lost 1-0 away to Hannover 96. Once again, young goalkeeper Michael Rensing looked insecure between the sticks.

Rensing definitely has the raw talent and potential, but he hasn't got a lot of first team experience for a 24-year-old, due to him being in Oliver Kahn's shadow all the time. The pressure of having to perform regularly in the first team appears to be getting to him, and I really wonder how he will cope with it.

Generally speaking, Bayern seems to have a problem when it comes to improving young players. It’s not just Rensing that has difficulties breaking into first team. There’s several other young talents that just don’t seem to be improving. For example, Toni Kroos.

Not long ago, Kroos was said to be the best young German midfielder, the star of the national youth teams and crowned one of the best players at the previous U-19 World Cup. Right now, others like Marko Marin and Mesut Özil seem to have surpassed him. I wouldn’t want to write off Kroos, but maybe it would have been better for his development if he had joined a different club.

This got me wondering about how a top club should nurture such talents and allow them to blossom. Surely FC Bayern are not the only club that is faced with difficulties like this—I think we can all think of some great talents that failed miserably at top clubs.

Let’s stick with Bayern for now. The problem with Bayern and their youth is simple. Bayern is a top club. They have to win, all the time, all season long.

Talents like Gladbach's Marko Marin and Werder Bremen's Mesut Özil are playing for relatively small clubs, there's less pressure to perform there and talents are allowed to have an off-day or make a mistake, without losing their spot in first team.

Young players need confidence, they need to play a serie of ten or more games to build their confidence and fine-tune their skills.

Look at how Bert van Marwijk treated young Turkish midfielder Nuri Sahin a few seasons ago. Good or bad, Sahin always played and in the end he rewarded his manager with strong performances.

Nowadays, Sahin isn't as good as he used to be for Dortmund. Last season at Feyenoord, again under Van Marwijk, Sahin performed quite well. Confidence can make or break a youngster.

Bayern, however, cannot give a player confidence and a lot of playing time. I think Bayern has to cope with almost surreal expectations every year. They have to win the title and they are pretty much the only really great German club. Looking at the amount of silverware they have accumulated over the years, there is no club in Germany that even comes close.

Bayern have to win, so they are more likely to chose a player that performs on a more constant level. Younger players are by nature more likely to have fluctuating form. A nine rating this week, a four rating next week.

Bayern prefer players that are reliable, so a six or seven every week. Talents like Kroos might benefit from a loan to a smaller side, where they can play every week.

As I said before, confidence can make or break a young talent. Everyone makes mistakes when they’re younger, it’s the way in which the manager deals with these mistakes that generally determines if a talent will succeed at a club.

Clubs like Ajax and Arsenal are famous for having young players from their own academies break into first team and reach stardom. Their secret? Confidence. A player isn’t immediately dropped when he makes a mistake of plays badly. He is given a chance to redeem himself and play a series of matches in which he prove his worth. That is how you should nurture a talented youth.

Talents like Van der Vaart, Sneijder, Babel, Heitinga, Chivu, Ibrahimovic, all were given a first team spot at a very young age. All of them made mistakes, played some poor matches, but all of them kept their spot in first team. In the end, they re-paid this trust by developing into (potentially) world-class players.

So my tip for Bayern and any other top side struggling with its young talents would be this, build their confidence and show some trust, even in bad times. In the end, they will re-pay your trust with stellar performances.

Jon Dahl Tomasson stole the sporting headlines when he bagged a brace for Feyenoord in the feisty, intense 2-2 draw against rivals Ajax Amsterdam.

Jeffrey Sarpong gave Ajax a 39th minute lead after collecting Luis Suarez's pass, but Tomasson leveled in the 50th with a header.

Ajax reclaimed the lead in the 69th when Suarez set up Klaas-Jan Huntelaar for his first league goal this season.

Tomasson equalized again for Feyenoord, scoring an 86th minute penalty.

The result of the Dutch Classic was not crucial, according to Marco van Basten.

"The season still lasts too long for that, but winning in the Kuip stadium would have been a major shot in the arm at this point in the season. But winning was not in the cards this time for us.

"The match ended in 2-2, just like last season. We could have gone home the winners", Van Basten said. 

"But we did not use the spaces we got. And you can also question some of the decisions of the referee, but I won't hide behind that. It's just a pity."

The great match, however, was marred by violence.

On the terraces an adult Feyenoord fan was creating his own bit of headlines in Holland, when he flat out punched a 12-year-old boy in the face.

The boy was an Ajax supporter and was just celebrating a goal scored by his own team. 

According to reports, the attacker was caught by security men but later escaped.

There were a few other scuffles between the two sets of fans after the match. On the whole, though, the police only had to make a few arrests.

Welcome to the seventh in the "A Tribute To..." series. Today's tribute is to the man who took the footballing world by storm and dominated the 1980s: Marco van Basten.

Van Basten was a superb all-round player. Elegant and strong, equally proficient with either foot, powerful in the air and highly mobile, van Basten was a constant handful for every defence he came up against.

Born October 31, 1964, Marcel "Marco" van Basten starting playing for his local youth side at just seven. By the time he was 18, he had been signed by the Dutch giants Ajax. At the time, Ajax were one of the top clubs in Europe, and in van Basten they had signed a highly promising young striker.

In April 1982, van Basten came on for the great Johan Cruyff to make his debut. He went on to score in that game, helping Ajax to a 5-0 drubbing of NEC Nijmegen. Despite being an understudy to the likes of Cruyff and Wim Kieft, van Basten made 20 appearances in his first season, scoring nine goals.

The 19 year-old van Basten had started his career off with a strike rate of almost one every two games. More importantly, his goals had helped Ajax to the Dutch Championship, the second in van Basten's short time at the club (he was in the youth team for the first one), and the Dutch Cup.

Wim Kieft was sold the following season, so van Basten became the first choice centre-forward for Ajax. And boy, did he take advantage of that. The next four years were among the most successful of his career.

In 1983, van Basten was first called up for Holland. The Dutch selectors had seen enough in the teenager to give him a chance. His club form made sure of his continued selection for the next few years.

The 1983/83 season may have been an unsuccessful one for Ajax, they finished trophy-less, but individually, van Basten had a great year. He was fast becoming one of the most lethal strikers in Europe.

He finished that season as the top scorer, as he did for another three seasons in a row after that. From 1984 to 1987, van Basten was unplayable. Barely a game went by when he didn't find the net.

In that time, Ajax won another Eredivision Championship, two more Dutch Cups, and a Cup Winners' Cup as well. His stats tell the story of this glorious four-year period: 138 goals in 145 appearances in all competitions. His league stats are even more impressive: 117 goals in 112 matches, including 37 goals in just 26 matches in the 1985/86 season.

Unsurprisingly, he won the European Golden Boot for that season. The Cup Winners' Cup final was van Basten's last game for Ajax, and he fittingly scored the winning goal. He finished his career in Holland with 128 goals in 133 league games, and 152 in 172 in all competitions, an unprecedented strike rate.

In 1987, van Basten moved to AC Milan for the give-away fee of £1.5 million. His first season in Italy wasn't as successful as he would've hoped, however, as he only played in 11 games, due to injury problems.

But in 1988, things got a whole lot better. Van Basten was joined at AC Milan by fellow countrymen Frank Rijkaard and Ruud Gullit, and went on to record the best year of his career.

He helped Milan to a Serie A title, their first in eight years, and also won the Italian Super Cup. However, it was on the international stage where he was going to shine brightest.

The new era of "Total Football" for Holland had arrived and they strolled into the European Championships of 1988 looking for Holland's first major international title. A van Basten inspired side did just that. He scored five goals, including a spectacular volley from a near impossible angle.

That was enough to see him named top scorer, and help guide Holland back to the top of international football. That year, van Basten won the Dutch Footballer of the Year award, European Footballer of the Year award and the World Footballer of the Year award, narrowly beating team-mates and fellow Dutchmen Rijkaard and Gullit in an unprecedented clean sweep by a nation.

1989 picked up where '88 left off, as van Basten helped Milan to the Intercontinental Cup, the European Super Cup, and the European Cup, in which he was the top scorer of. More individual honours rolled his way as he was once more voted both Dutch Footballer of the Year and European Footballer of the Year.

The next season provided yet more awards for van Basten and Milan. He guided his team to a second successive European Cup, and finished as top scorer in Serie A. Internationally, however, it didn't go too well.

Much was expected of the impressive Dutch side, and many were asking if they could go one better than the original "Total Footballers" and win the World Cup. The answer was no. A disappointing tournament saw them be dumped out in the second round by West Germany.

The following season was a trophy-less one for Milan, and reported falling outs between van Basten and manager Arrigo Sacchi led to Sacchi being sacked. His replacement was Fabio Capello, and a new, successful era at Milan had begun.

By the end of the 1991/92 season, Capello had guided Milan to an unbeaten season, and to a Serie A title, with van Basten again the star man, finishing as the league's top scorer.

At the 1992 European Championships, van Basten helped Holland to a semi-final spot where they met Denmark. The match went to a penalty shoot-out, in which van Basten had his penalty saved by Peter Schmeichel. Denmark went on to win the shoot-out and the tournament.

Despite the penalty miss, van Basten was once again voted World Footballer of the Year and European Footballer of the Year. This made him only the third player to have won the Ballon d'Or three times, the other two being his mentor Johan Cruyff and France's Michel Platini.

Milan went on to extend their unbeaten run to 58 games, but van Basten experienced more injury troubles with the ankle that had plagued him throughout his career. The injuries had taken their toll on him and it was obvious in the European Cup final in 1993 that van Basten wasn't his usual self.

This ultimately unsuccessful match turned out to be van Basten's last in competitive football as a player, as he retired from football, aged just 30. He finished with 90 league goals in 147 league games for Milan, and 122 in 195 in all competitions.

His total career stats of 274 goals in 367 appearances are almost unparalleled for the phenomenal strike rate.

Injury cruelly cut his remarkable career short, but he will forever be remembered as the magical striker capable of magical strikes, and the man with one of the best strike-rates in World Football. This has been a tribute to van Basten.

Click here to see other tributes made by this author.

In the third edition of The Greatest Rivalries, I will be looking at Holland's main derby match in the Eredivisie.

Despite PSV Eindhoven dominating domestically in recent times it is the Klassieker between Ajax of Amsterdam and Feyenoord Rotterdam which remains the most important match in the Dutch footballing calendar.

Success in the early years of Dutch football served to create the rivalry between the two clubs, with many league titles and KNVB Cup's being shared between Amsterdam and Rotterdam's flagship clubs.

To date, Ajax are Holland's most successful club ever with 29 Eredivisie titles, more than double the 14 that Feyenoord have to their name. Ajax have also enjoyed far more success on the European stage than any of their domestic counterparts with four European Cup wins compared to just one of Feyenoord (and PSV).

The rivalry between the two clubs can also be seen as a rivalry between Holland's two biggest city's. These games are not only a footballing clash but also one of different cultures and attitudes.

Rotterdam is the industrial heartland of Holland, with one of Europe's biggest ports. Feyenoord is the club of the working man.

Amsterdam, on the other hand, is seen as a cultural city for tourists. People from Rotterdam see Amsterdam as arrogant and lazy.

There is a famous quote from Sparta Rotterdam fan Jules Deelder which can perhaps explain the way Amsterdam is viewed, "Holland's money is earned in Rotterdam, divided in The Hague, and flushed down the toilet in Amsterdam."

Such differences in attitudes between the cities and fans has invariably led to a fractious relationship between fans. In 2004 during a reserve team match between Ajax and Feyenoord, a player for the Rotterdam club, Jorge Acuna, was taken to hospital after being attacked by an Ajax "firm." However, the most infamous incident must be the Beverwijk incident.

Rival fans came to conflict in the town of Beverwijk near Amsterdam in 1997. Many were injured and one Ajax fan was even killed. Such incidents have acted as the catalyst for some of the most innovative policing methods for football matches in Europe. Violence between fans has reduced as the police have tried to escort fans from buses and trains to the stadiums and match days when the two teams meet.

The Klassieker is yet another example of a match which transcends the definition of ordinary footballing rivalries. This time however, it is not politics and religion which interfere but culture and attitude.

As a neutral observer it seems perhaps that Feyenoord fans are envious of the attention that Amsterdam receives. Ajax are Hlland's most famous club and it seems Feyenoord and Rotterdam are tired of living in their more illustrious neighbours' shadows.

Ajax are seen as arrogant, and as long as Feyenoord and their fans continue to try and bring them down this will continue to be a great rivalry.

Today's 'A Tribute To...' looks at one of the most skilled players in the history of the game - Johan Cruyff.

One of the main exponents of the majestic "Total Football", Cruyff was often called "the Total Footballer" for his ability to play it like no other.

Born on April 25, 1947, Johan Cruyff made his debut for the Ajax first team at 18 years old, scoring on it. His first season at Ajax, however was one to forget.  It was in his second season that things started picking up for him.

At just 19 he was a first-team regular, and was quickly becoming the star player. At one time during the season he scored seven goals in just four days. Overall he went on to score 25 goals in 23 games, which helped Ajax to the League Championship.

Cruyff and Ajax's rise continued in his third season there. In his first season they went trophy-less, in the second season they won the League and in the third they improved further, securing a League and Cup double. Johan Cruyff ended the season as The Eredivisie's top scorer, recording 33 goals.

He won the Dutch Player of the Year award that same season at just 20 years of age.

Ajax continued to dominate, inspired by the total football of their new great. They won their third successive League crown, and was once again voted Dutch Player of the Year.

The following year was his first trophy-less season since his debut year at Ajax, but a ray of light was that they reached the final of the European Cup, only to fall to AC Milan.

The year after, however, Cruyff and Ajax were back to winning ways, securing another League and Cup double. It the very next season that Cruyff scored a superb six goals in a single match, inspiring his team to an 8-1 win.

He was starting to really establish himself as one of the best in the world. He inspired Ajax to yet another Cup win, and guided them to European Cup success. On top of this he was awarded the Ballon d'Or, or the European Player of the Year award. It was Cruyff's most successful year in football so far.

Little did he know that the very next season was to be even better.

In 1972, Ajax were unstoppable. Not only did they win another League and Cup double, but they also won the Intercontinental Cup, the European Super Cup and even successfully defended the European Cup.

Cruyff scored in the Cup final, twice in the European Cup final and was once again the League's top scorer. The Total Football of Ajax and Cruyff were the talk of Europe.

The success continued in 1973 when he led Ajax to another League trophy, a second successive European Super Cup, and a historic third successive European Cup. He was once again voted European Player of the Year, only the second player to have won it twice.

Cruyff had now been at Ajax for seven years, and had become their star player and their talisman. Much to the dismay of Ajax fans, Cruyff moved on to Barcelona in the summer of 1973.

In his first season at the Catalan giants he helped them to their first La Liga title in almost 15 years, and was named European Player of the Year for the second successive time, and a record third time overall.

He had cemented his place as the best player in the world going into the 1974 World Cup. Many people were eagerly anticipating the Total Football of the Dutch at a World Cup. Everyone wanted to see how they did. And they didn't disappoint.

They brushed off the world's best like Argentina and Brazil with apparent ease and progressed to the final to face West Germany.

He was involved in controversy leading up to the match, but that didn't seem to affect Holland's preparations, as they dominated in the first half. However, West Germany came back and won 2-1. Cruyff's dream of winning a World Cup was over.

However, he left the world with memories of his class. His tricks such as what is now known as "The Cruyff Turn" dazzled the millions watching. In 1977 Cruyff retired from international football ahead of the 1978 World Cup. He had played 48 times for the Netherlands, scoring 33 goals, and would later be voted as the best player in their history.

He stayed at Barcelona for the next five years, continuously putting in good displays, but he could only add a Copa del Rey trophy to his La Liga title.

Following stints in America and Levante, Cruyff returned to Ajax and, despite his ageing years, inspired them to two more League titles and another Cup success.

When he wasn't offered a contract renewal at Ajax he signed for arch-rivals Feyenoord, and was once again an inspiration. He led them to a League and Cup double, despite being 36 years old.

He later became a successful coach, winning the European Cup again, becoming one of a small handful to have won it as both player and manager.

However, it was his mesmerizing time as a player that he will be remembered for. His speed, skill, finishing and just all-round ability couldn't be matched.

In 1999 Johan Cruyff was voted the European Player of the Century, and came second in the World Player of the Century poll. He truly was a great the likes of which we may never see again. This has been a tribute to Johan Cruyff.

Click here to see other tributes made by this author.

Tottenham Spurs striker Dimitar Berbatov appears keen to remain in London which could force Sir Alex Ferguson to mount a bid for Ajax Amsterdam star Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. The Spurs were ready to accept United’s beefed-up bid which was reported at £28m.

However, the 27-year-old Bulgarian made it known that he wanted to wait till manager Juande Ramos secured an attacking replacement. This taxed Sir Alex’s patience and he now appears ready to move on with Huntelaar as a favorite to join Manchester United.

The 24-year-old Dutch international has been a proficient goal scorer while in the Netherlands. The Hunter helped guide the Netherlands to the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. He has played for Ajax since 2005.

Looking to the other club in Manchester, Tottenham is also involved in recent transfer news with Manchester City over right-back Vedran Corluka. The Spurs have made a bid in the area of at least £7m for the Croatian international who earned rave reviews during Euro 2008.

Corluka has stated that he will make his decision within the next day or so regarding his club preference.

City also appears to be fending off Sunderland as the fellow Premiership outfit looks to pry midfielder and Irish international Stephen Ireland. Manager Mark Hughes denied this rumor after Manchester City’s 1-0 triumph over A.C. Milan in the club’s final preseason warm-up.